Whenever I see Namita in the morning while she leaves for office, I am pretty surprised. Her skin practically glows. She is not fond of make-up and it does even seem that she has applied some. But while waving me bye as she presses the button for elevator, she is all pink and glowing right in the morning.
Being very curious about skin, I asked her the secret. She divulged that just before she leaves, she applies some ice cubes on her face. This gives her that much required glow, which is equal to light make-up. I was quite surprised. I tried the ice-cube skin hack and was pleased with the results.
If your freezer is stocked with ice cubes at any point of time, it is time to make good use of them. Yes, I know what did you just mumbled! Ice cubes are already doing a good job of making your cold drinks taste good. But, did you know that your skin can get a natural pink glow just by applying a cube or two of ice.
Ice cubes refer to frozen pieces of water. You do not need to do special efforts. Just freeze some water in silicone or other molds available at home. While you might have been using ice to numb the pain, it is good to soothe even pimples and sunburns.
Custom-Made Ice Cubes
You can create customized ice cubes for your skin. For this, you need to properly wash an ice-cube tray. Add your favorite skin cleansing ingredient to it and then cover it with something. Covering will prevent the freezer to smell of that particular ingredient. Now, place it in the refrigerator.
Depending on your refrigerator, the ice will be ready in a couple of hours. You can apply this ice on your face and difference will be certainly visible.
You can freeze raw milk in the ice cubes or even lemon juice, aloe Vera juice, orange juice, chamomile tea, green tea, grated cucumber, rose water, etc. Be creative and experiment with your favourite home remedies with ice. However, first test a tiny patch of your skin for allergies.
Let’s delve into the benefits of this magical and natural beauty product.
Hello Glowing Skin
Is your skin dull and listless? Instead of running from pillar to post to look for natural solution, just walk to your freezer and get some ice cubes out.
You need to wash your face first and then pat dry it. Use ice cubes on your face by wrapping it up in a flannel cloth or paper towel. Remember to rub it gently. While rubbing it on your face, do not forget the area around your neck. I have observed many women that they do not apply any kind of face pack on the neck. They just treat the facial skin.
However, it is necessary that neck is also covered in all types of beauty treatment. This is because the skin around the neck is equally sensitive. While rubbing ice-cubes, move it like you are massaging your skin. But do not exert much pressure. After you complete, do not wipe it off. The skin will absorb the moisture at its own pace.
Rubbing ice on the skin makes it cold. This coldness is good for your skin as it helps in blood circulation and prevents dullness and listlessness. This even helps in giving a natural glow to the skin and brightening the complexion.
Goodbye, Pimples
Oops, it’s there! I generally have a new visitor on my face every week. I am talking about pimples here. Pimples can trouble you at any point of time. However, the most troubling is the redness and itchiness.
If you are invited to a party and you need to minimize the bad effects of pimples, then ice cubes can help you out. Just rub them by wrapping it up in a flannel cloth or even a plastic bag. Make sure that the cloth and bag is clean. This is because pimples are caused by bacteria and cleanliness is must to treat them.
For pimples, you need to rub ice cubes just on specific (pimple-prone) areas. If you rub the same ice cube all over, there are chances that bacteria might spread. Rub them for a minute, take a break of five minutes and begin again if need be.
Ice cubes can help in shrinking the acne. Rubbing ice cubes helps in minimizing redness as well as swelling that accompany pimples. It also lowers the inflammation caused by pimples. But remember not to rub ice cubes for long as it might do more bad than good. Rub it for some time, till you feel good.
What’s Puffy Eyes
Due to lack of sleep or other reasons, you might end up with puffy eyes. And answering silly questions about puffy eyes to friends and family is all the more troublesome, right! To treat puffy eyes, just rub ice cubes around the eyes. Keep caution though. The area around the eyes is quite sensitive. Cold packs refresh the area around your eyes and work magically on puffiness. You can even prepare green tea ice cubes by pouring green tea into the ice tray. After rubbing ice cubes, pat dry the area and do not rub it vigorously.
Not just puffy eyes, ice-cubes will even help you treat those dark circles you got while staring on your laptop screen. Rubbing ice-cubes once a day will help you bid goodbye to these nasty circles that rotate around your eyes and make you look miserable. For added benefits, you can add cucumber juice and rose water in the ice-cube tray.
Soothe the Sunburns
If you like basking in the sun like me and my tot, then this remedy will help you recover from harsh sunshine. When you are out in the sun, your skin bears the brunt. Sunburns are a common problem these days.
If not treated on time, sunburns can cause permanent damages to skin. For treating sunburns, rub some ice cubes on the damaged areas. Remember to wrap the ice cubes in a flannel cloth or it might be quite severe for your skin. You can prepare aloe Vera juice ice cubes too for treating sunburns. Alternatively, cucumber juice or grater cucumber can be frozen into the form of ice cubes as well.
Exfoliate your Skin
Your skin requires regular exfoliation to keep it fresh and bouncy. Yes, you like going to spa and salon to get your skin exfoliated. However, did you know that you can perform exfoliation procedure at home too if you are pressed for time or running on a shoe-string budget?
Exactly! Ice-cubes! Pour some raw milk into ice-trays and freeze them. Use these cubes as exfoliators. You might be wondering how milk can exfoliate your skin. Milk has the presence of the famous lactic acid. This component is quite well-known in the beauty circles in scrubbing off the dead cells.
What more! It even refreshes your skin. If you have some leftover blueberries or some grated cucumber, they work equally well. Remember one thing though. Always wash your face and pat dry before rubbing ice cubes on to it. This is because ice works on a dried up face. You need to wash your face with lukewarm water after this process for added benefits.
Delay Ageing
When you observe yourself in the skin after crossing thirty, you might be wondering about the fine lines that have started appearing as a mark of ageing. While you cannot stop ageing of your skin, you can definitely delay it with certain procedures. And using ice cubes is one of them.
The benefit of using ice cubes is that it helps tighten up your skin naturally. It certainly acts as a facial and moisturizes your skin for a long time. The added benefit is that ice cubes help in tightening the pores of your skin as well. For this, you need to wash your face using lukewarm water and pat dry it. Wrap the ice cubes in flannel cloth and rub it on your face. You need to do this till the ice melts or maximum fifteen minutes.
Make-up Hacks
If you apply make-up regularly, you might be surprised with what ice can do for your skin. Rubbing ice on your skin just before you begin your make up routine is quite beneficial. This is because ice acts as a primer for the make-up.
So, before you apply foundation, rub a couple of ice on your face. This helps in minimizing the size of pores on your skin and even reduces the appearance of fine lines. Ice cubes make your skin flawless and clear before make up.
Re-applying lipstick again and again in a party is quite taxing, right? Here’s a trick for you – ice cubes. Ice cubes even keep your lip stick intact for longer periods. Just apply your favourite lipstick and rub an ice cube over it for some time. This hack helps to lock-in the moisture and the lipstick as well.
Are you as impatient as me when it comes to drying up the nail-paint? Then, you need to fill up a bowl with ice cubes and some water. Dip your nails in it after applying your favourite nail-paint. This trick will help speed up the drying process and even keeps the nail paint stay intact for a longer period.
Give Oily Skin a Break
Are you tired of carrying a handkerchief everywhere to wipe the oil off your face? I will divulge a secret. Ice cubes will give your oily skin a much needed break. Ice cubes, being cold, not only helps in wiping the oil off but also delays the re-appearance of the same.
For this, you just need to rub some ice cubes on your skin. You can do it for maximum fifteen minutes. Now, you need to apply some oil-free moisturizing cream. For added benefits, add some crushed mint leaves to the water while freezing into the ice cubes tray.
Painless Plucking
Ouch! Even before you enter the salon for getting threading done, you feel the upcoming ouches, right! To save all this trouble, just rub some ice cubes just before you leave. Or ask the expert over there to do the needful. Rubbing ice cubes make the entire plucking process almost pain-free. Another benefit is that you will be saved off the redness post plucking as well.
Caution
You need to clean your face for the icing process. Pat dry the area. And then apply ice directly or wrapped in a flannel cloth or paper towel or plastic bag. Use the wrap that is available or the one that suits your skin. Make sure that the flannel cloth, plastic bag or the paper towel is clean. You need to just hold on the ice to your skin or affected area (say, acne or sunburn). You can even massage the ice lightly. If you already suffer from broken capillaries, do not use ice cubes directly. Always wrap them up in above mentioned things. While rubbing ice cubes, if you feel that the capillaries have broken, discontinue the process. If you do not feel comfortable rubbing ice cubes, do not attempt it.
In the End
Ice cubes are quite a cool beauty hack, right? Literally, you will exclaim. They are almost free of cost and do not take much time. When I was young, I used to apply ice cubes before I left for some event. It helped my skin sweat less. Now, I need to do something about these fine lines. Yes, I am ageing. Albeit beautifully. What say?